Dr. Virginia J. Crider Teaching Award

Dr. Virginia J. Crider '62 M.Ed. ED has pledged $20,000 to establish the Dr. Virginia J. Crider Teaching Award. The endowment supports outstanding students that have demonstrated professional promise as teachers during their student teaching experiences.

Dr. Virginia J. Crider

Dr. Virginia J. Crider '62 M.Ed. ED has pledged $20,000 to establish the Dr. Virginia J. Crider Teaching Award. The endowment supports outstanding students that have demonstrated professional promise as teachers during their student teaching experiences.

Virginia has elected to early activate her endowment. To early activate a bequest, the donor agrees to provide annual support to be used for the purpose of the endowment. By choosing this option, Virginia will enjoy the impact of her philanthropy during her lifetime, receiving letters from her award recipients and interacting with the students at College events.

"Having worked with 509 student-teachers during my career," said Virginia, "I've found that students who are transitioning to become full-time teachers need additional money."

Virginia saw that students struggled to pay for necessities like professional wardrobes and portfolios, materials for classroom activities, and registration fees for professional development sessions. Virginia is excited to be able to ease the financial burden of this transition for deserving students.

She hopes that her gift will allow young teachers to focus on "experiencing the daily fun, enjoyment, and satisfaction of seeing their students achieve."

Virginia earned her M.Ed. degree over the course of five summers and one fall semester at Penn State. According to Virginia, the professors and fellow students that she met during her studies inspired her to become a better educator. Virginia considers her time at Penn State to be a highlight of her educational growth as a teacher.

Virginia is retired from a thirty-one-year career as a professor. Before becoming a professor, Virginia was a home economics teacher for eleven years in the public schools of Pennsylvania and Ohio. She has been taking water-color painting classes for two years and is "loving every minute of developing a new talent that I didn't realize had been hidden all these years."

(June 2014)

Did you know?

We are online.

The College of Education offered the first online master’s degree through the Penn State World Campus. We now offer 5 master’s degrees and 8 certificates online, and are continually adding new online programs.